On the Sabbath

At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk. Now that day was a sabbath. ¹⁰So the Jews said to the man who had been cured, “It is the sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your mat.” ¹¹But he answered them, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Take up your mat and walk.’” ¹²They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take it up and walk’?” ¹³Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had disappeared in the crowd that was there. ¹⁴Later Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you have been made well! Do not sin any more, so that nothing worse happens to you.” ¹⁵The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. ¹⁶Therefore the Jews started persecuting Jesus, because he was doing such things on the sabbath. John 5:9-16

The Sabbath is God's gift to humanity. We are given the opportunity to rest one day a week. We are given relief from the grind of work and the responsibility that comes with it. God takes the seventh day of creation to rest and we are to follow suit each week. One would think human beings would rejoice in such a gift, but most cannot stop their work or productivity so God made observing the Sabbath a command. God's commands us to rest because on our own would will not and can not rest. Taking Sabbath rests requires trust in the provisions of God, rather than anxiously accumulating more and more. Taking Sabbath is a gift and it develops faith and trust in those who observe it.

To help people live into the gift of Sabbath, the Jewish faith developed detailed rules and regulations to help people rest. Most of these are intended to address the loopholes that anxious human beings devise to pay lip service to observing Sabbath. But as time went on, this Sabbath rules became elevated in importance to such an extent that love of neighbor became a "work" to avoid on Sabbath.

In this story, Jesus challenges strict Sabbath observance by healing a man who had been ill for 38 years. Strictly speaking, healing on the Sabbath was work, but Jesus demonstrates there is never a wrong time to help a hurting person. It is not that Sabbath observance is unimportant, but a legalistic and narrow interpretation of the commandments that does not preference love of neighbor is problematic. In other words, faithfulness to God is not as simple as following rules, we must seek to love God and love neighbor fully.

It is precisely this kind of tension and nuance the religious leaders of Jesus' day could not tolerate, which eventually led them to persecute and kill Jesus. God's calls us to live in this tension, requiring us to remain open to the Spirit's leading and discerning the most faithful path forward. In this instance, it meant Jesus healed and hurting man, but it other cases it may mean slowing down and allowing rest to permeate our harried lives.  

Prayer: Lord, help me to slow down, rest, and trust in your grace. Help me to follow your ways to love you with all I have and love others, in Jesus' name AMEN.